UNHCR Grants Election Commission Access to Rohingya Biometric Database
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has granted Bangladesh’s Election Commission (EC) access to the biometric and other data of forcibly displaced Rohingyas who have taken refuge in the country from Myanmar.
On Wednesday (March 19), following a meeting with UNHCR representatives at the Election Commission headquarters in Agargaon, Dhaka, A.S.M. Humayun Kabir, Director General of the National Identity Registration Division, shared this information with journalists.
He stated, "As per the memorandum of understanding between the government and UNHCR, the organization has agreed to share Rohingya data. This database will be accessible to the Election Commission, and a technical team has been formed to determine how it will be utilized."
Highlighting concerns regarding the upcoming elections, he said, "Rohingyas are attempting to be included in the voter list. Having access to the database will make it easier to identify them and prevent National ID (NID) fraud."
According to UNHCR, Bangladesh currently hosts over one million Rohingya refugees. The agency has agreed to transfer the database expeditiously, but several meetings will be required to finalize the process, he added.
Addressing the issue of Rohingyas obtaining passports, Kabir noted that they are no longer confined to the Chattogram region but have spread across different parts of the country, making the database even more crucial for tracking and verification.
